Copyright & Patents/Herbal Formulas

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Expert: - 12/14/2008


Question
Hi Renee,
With regard to protecting one's formula, you mentioned keeping the ingredients
a secret.  When one markets  remedy though one has to disclose all the
ingredients, etc.  on the bottle.  Would you please let me know your thoughts on
this?

Answer
If you have to disclose all the ingredients, including proportions, on the label, it will be difficult to keep it secret.
But I wonder if it is clear from mentioning ingredients in herbal medicine where exactly they come from?
For instance: An ingredient is compound X (with a chemical name or chemical formula). Will it be clear then how to obtain that compound X, if you have to extract it from the roots of tree Y for instance?

In "normal" medicine you have to give a chemical formula, but that does not mean that everybody is able to make that compound!

Hope this helps.

Rene Hasekamp.

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Rene Hasekamp

Expertise

I can answer questions about European patent law and practice. My experience mainly lies in the Dutch patent practice. I am not familiar with other patent systems than the European and Dutch systems, although I am familiar with general issues regarding patents. Please don`t ask me questions, specific for US patent law or any other non-European patent law.

Experience

I have been a patent examiner in the Netherlands Patent Office for 35 years. Now 9 am retired. I have been a deputy judge for patent cases in The Hague's District Court from January 1991 until June 2011.

Education/Credentials
I graduated in Chemistry and Law at Leiden University. I have worked in the Netherlands Patent Office as an examiner for 35 years until my retirement in 2003. I was appointed as a honorary deputy judge for patent cases in 1991. After my retirement I still work at a few cases on patent law in The Hague District Court.

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